LIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19557, 9 February 1927, Page 10

LIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN.

Sir, —Your correspondent, " One of Them," has indeed touched a vital spot in the lives of women when she asserts that " the hardest years of their lives are those between 50 and 60." May I offer to her my thanks ? The subject v is one to which few people, I suppose, give even a passing thought, and yet it is worthy of deep consideration. " One of Them " has voiced, just to a nicety, the thoughts of many womeu in like case. Wo all know of women, many of them widows., who are capable and intelligent, who, through no fault of their own, Ae not living, but simply existing. These women, as your correspondent asserts, could be given light work where " reliability would bo counted an asset" There is, 1 think, an idea very prevalent regarding what is called (rightly or wrongly) tho "widows' pension." The general impression seems to be that that pension is given to all widows, irrespective of age. That is not so. Those widows who have children under 15 years of ago receive what is termed the widows' pension. When tho youngest child readies IS years, the widows' (?) pension ceases. This misunderstanding may be a factor in th,e case of so many capable women being refused, when applying, light labour, which iu many cases is so much needed for both body and mind. Another Of 'Em.